The James McClean Sponsored Poppy Thread

[Glenconner]

It was a common thing years ago for the poppy sellers to go door to door. No big shop displays then, just a collecting tin and a wee bag of poppies next to it at the till

Remember a couple of women going round the doors.

Think they were local Church of Scotland members, totally harmless.

Remember the auld fella kidding them on "so where abouts were you two on D-Day?".

In the 1960/70s your average 40/50 year old man had been in a war.

[bob the tank]

Remember a couple of women going round the doors.

Think they were local Church of Scotland members, totally harmless.

Remember the auld fella kidding them on "so where abouts were you two on D-Day?".

In the 1960/70s your average 40/50 year old man had been in a war.

And even guys in their late thirties, I worked beside about a dozen men who had all served in Malaya at the same time in various Scottish regiments but had never met each other until they all started in the same factory twenty years later

[MattBairn]

I'm a bit late to the thread...my tuppence worth;

Wear a poppy (whichever colour) or don't, I couldn't care less and wonder why others do.

Someone shared a page on my FB thread complaining about some tart from sky sports not wearing a poppy. Who actually give a f**k about that kind of thing!?

I read ALOT of Sci fi but have only read 1 Orwell book (1984). It was excellent, but not as good as A Brave New World by Aldous Huxley.

Edited November 3, 2015 by MattBairn

[invergowrie arab]

And even guys in their late thirties, I worked beside about a dozen men who had all been conscripted into taking part in brutal imperial oppression in Malaya at the same time in various Scottish regiments but had never met each other until they all started in the same factory twenty years later

FTFY

[Derry O'Driscoll]

Once they changed it from metal pin to green stem that was it for me.

[dorlomin]

What's the point in 'remembering' what happened in WW1 & 2? The point of doing so was surely to make clear that war is dreadful and should only ever be used as a last resort when all other options are exhausted in order to avoid the horrors of it all? Yet today the military is deified and the UK gleefully trots off to conflicts we should have nothing to do with.

'Lest we forget'? We already have. If you're taking a (state endorsed) set time to 'reflect', then you should reflect that sadly those who fought failed in the long run and their memories and efforts have been hijacked.

When the Saarland was remillitatarised getting involved was not the last option, when Austrian anschluss happened getting involved was not the last option, when China was attacked and Nanking put to the sword, getting involved was not the last option, when Ethiopia was invaded and gassed getting involved was not the last option, when they demanded the Sudatenland and then took all of Czechoslovakia getting involved was not the last option.

Do you think the lesson of the first half of the 20th century was do not get involved until its your turn? The obvious response will be to ignore what you said and flap about Iraq etc. The lessons of the two wars are complex, contradictory and easily disputed. Get too involved in alliances and you can find yourself getting dragged into wars that make no sense, but avoid conflict in the hope the beast will be satisfied with its last meal and one day you find yourself fighting a much bigger beast. War is horrific, but not so horrific we should sacrifice our freedom for and sometimes we have to fight for other peoples freedoms even if we are not involved.

As for "lest we forget" being hijacked, the Royal British Legion has always been a benevolent fund for ex servicemen. Do you think it should only be a fund for ex servicemen of wars you like? Trust me the people who stood in silence in 1925 at the Cenotaph were vastly more jingoistic and pro union jacks than most people of modern Britain.

If you dont want to buy a poppy fine, its an honourable choice. But the historic revisionism to try to turn the RBL into being only about WW1\2, pretending the crowds of the 20s and 30s were not patriotic, or that the only lesson of the two great wars was that war should never be fought until the last choice has been exhausted smacks trying to smash 90 complex years of British history into a very now shaped hole.

[pandarilla]

When the Saarland was remillitatarised getting involved was not the last option, when Austrian anschluss happened getting involved was not the last option, when China was attacked and Nanking put to the sword, getting involved was not the last option, when Ethiopia was invaded and gassed getting involved was not the last option, when they demanded the Sudatenland and then took all of Czechoslovakia getting involved was not the last option.

Do you think the lesson of the first half of the 20th century was do not get involved until its your turn? The obvious response will be to ignore what you said and flap about Iraq etc. The lessons of the two wars are complex, contradictory and easily disputed. Get too involved in alliances and you can find yourself getting dragged into wars that make no sense, but avoid conflict in the hope the beast will be satisfied with its last meal and one day you find yourself fighting a much bigger beast. War is horrific, but not so horrific we should sacrifice our freedom for and sometimes we have to fight for other peoples freedoms even if we are not involved.

As for "lest we forget" being hijacked, the Royal British Legion has always been a benevolent fund for ex servicemen. Do you think it should only be a fund for ex servicemen of wars you like? Trust me the people who stood in silence in 1925 at the Cenotaph were vastly more jingoistic and pro union jacks than most people of modern Britain.

If you dont want to buy a poppy fine, its an honourable choice. But the historic revisionism to try to turn the RBL into being only about WW1\2, pretending the crowds of the 20s and 30s were not patriotic, or that the only lesson of the two great wars was that war should never be fought until the last choice has been exhausted smacks trying to smash 90 complex years of British history into a very now shaped hole.

An excellent post.

But there has been an element of 21st century propaganda though - especially targeted at the ill-informed. The modern notion of 'grief addiction' makes it all look a bit undignified and actually very unbritish.

[Audaces Fortuna Juvat]

Maybe in the backwater where you live but in Glasgow you don't see that many.

I wasn't referring to the number of poppies worn/bought, it was more a comment on your bigoted/ignorant post about who wears/buys a poppy.

I agree with pandarilla's post about grief addiction playing a worryingly increasing part, (I see Diana's death as a starting point for this nonsense), but some choose to wear a poppy for a few days for genuine reasons, in my case to remember my grandfather who fought at the Somme.

I see no contradiction whatsoever in opposing war and wearing poppies. WWI was a tragic waste of life but my grandfather was a man from simpler times and thought answering his "country's call" was the right thing to do. I vehemently opposed involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan, but can spare a thought for those maimed by these wars.

[callum-ayr]

Don't know if it's been covered, but this story just sums up what the culture of "Great Britain" has turned into. So much for being a democratic society and freedom of speech.

http://www.itv.com/news/2013-11-12/itv-news-presenter-defends-decision-to-not-wear-a-poppy-on-air/

[Audaces Fortuna Juvat]

It doesn't show anything even remotely approaching Great British culture,; it just proves that we have a fair share of idiots who try to impose their views on others.

[callum-ayr]

It doesn't show anything even remotely approaching Great British culture,; it just proves that we have a fair share of idiots who try to impose their views on others.

Every year it seems there is some different story regarding the views on how people should be wearing poppies. Maybe culture is the wrong word, but it's ridiculous people having a go at others for not wearing one, for whatever reason.

[Mark Connolly]

I don't wear a poppy or sing GSTQ - just as well I keep a low profile or my celebrity lifestyle would be f*cked.

[Audaces Fortuna Juvat]

Every year it seems there is some different story regarding the views on how people should be wearing poppies. Maybe culture is the wrong word, but it's ridiculous people having a go at others for not wearing one, for whatever reason.

People wear them if they want to, and not, if they don't. It really is that simple. All else is bombast and hubris.

That said, McLean is an utter James Hunt.

[~~~]

People wear them if they want to, and not, if they don't. It really is that simple. All else is bombast and hubris.

It's not really that simple, as we have already seen the witch hunt against people in the public eye who don't wear one.

[Audaces Fortuna Juvat]

Stop being so tedious, I was talking about on a personal level.

There are also a few on here who use the occasion and those who wear them to vent their own petty little bigotries.

[Adam]

People wear them if they want to, and not, if they don't. It really is that simple. All else is bombast and hubris.

That said, McLean is an utter James Hunt.

Is he really though? I doubt I would be wearing a poppy if members of the British Army had slain numerous members of my local community, tbh.

[pandarilla]

It doesn't show anything even remotely approaching Great British culture,; it just proves that we have a fair share of idiots who try to impose their views on others.

I think the culture it shows is that she had to defend herself. The media pressure is ridiculous, and more folk need to stand up to it for it to be dealt with.

[Mark Connolly]

Is he really though? I doubt I would be wearing a poppy if members of the British Army had slain numerous members of my local community, tbh.

He is, though not that is not necessarily related to his poppy stance.

[1320Lichtie]

Is he really though? I doubt I would be wearing a poppy if members of the British Army had slain numerous members of my local community, tbh.

Yup.

He's a bit of an arsehole and mentalist on the pitch to be fair, but I love that in a player. He's probably a pretty sound bloke tbh. But because he doesn't wear a poppy he's treated like the devil by the BritNats.

[Audaces Fortuna Juvat]

1320Lichtie- the place banter goes to die.